The present invention relates to a system for maintaining a plurality of browsing sessions. In particular, the present invention is related to maintaining and provisioning a plurality of browsing state sessions.
Access to applications, including web browsers, is provided for in various client-server environments. Placing a web browser on a server for delivery to a client presents a large number of issues, including issues with the delivery of the browsing experience to the client user, as well as the maintenance of a user session, and state within that session. For interaction with handheld clients, such as cellular phones, bandwidth and display size constraints pose additional challenges in delivering a satisfactory web browsing experience from a server. Regarding the server, there are challenges in allocating resources in supporting multiple sessions, particularly as the scale of the system increases (number of sessions, etc.). An additional layer of complexity involves how multiple users all access such a system in a way that makes use of the resources available and provides a satisfactory user experience.
There exists a need to support full-featured web browsing sessions on a diverse cross-section of bandwidth and capability-limited mobile devices in a way that addresses these challenges and advantageously utilizes a client-server environment, as well as to support the use of other applications in this same manner. Embodiments of this invention will address other needs as well.